The global contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) has completed a £20m ($27.59m) investment in its cold chain management capabilities.
The expansion ups the company’s cold storage capacity by 300% and its frozen storage capabilities by more than 50%, commented Almac Group CEO Alan Armstrong.
Dr Robert Dunlop, MD, president, Almac Clinical Services, told us the investment forms part of the company's overall expansion strategy and complements its existing facilities at its headquarters in Northern Ireland.
"Both clinical and commercial client requirements were a priority throughout the design and construction of this new facility, giving consideration to the uptake in orphan drug products, changes to regulatory compliance and a more stringent focus on data across the supply chain," explained Dunlop.
"Due to this additional capacity, clients have the option to scale up with Almac as their biologic/biosimilar product portfolio increases,” he added.
The new facility features more than 3,000 pallet spaces including -15°C to -25°C storage capacity, additional 2°C - 8°C secondary production rooms, in addition to 3PL processing areas and a clinical labeling suite.
Almac expects to hire an additional 100 new employees as part of the expansion.
To meet client needs in the EU, the company also recently announced a £30m ($41.36) investment at its new European campus based in Dundalk, Ireland. Scheduled to be operationally ready by January 2019, the expansion includes a new QC laboratory, packaging facility for commercial drug products and a 79,000 square foot distribution center for clinical trial supply.